Stuff We Like: Gourmet Jerky

Stuff We Like: Gourmet Jerky

For lots of skiers, click out of your bindings and hit the lodge for lunch, and it’s game over. Either you waited so long to eat that you're ravenous and proceed to vacuum your way through the cafeteria into a food coma, or your legs get used to the seated position and refuse to recoup their liveliness and agility.

Sugary snacks are all well and good, but sometimes you want something that tastes like real food and can sustain you for a half dozen more runs, or a lap into the back bowls.

Enter gourmet beef jerkies. With plenty of protein, not a lot of fat, and loads of delicious flavors, they'll hold you over til its beer-thirty and appetizers. Here are a few of our faves:

Krave Jerky: Based in the California wine country, Krave calls itself “jerky elevated,” and we can’t argue with that claim. It's MSG and nitrate-free, made with the highest quality, all natural ingredients. Krave braises its meat first, then cooks it low and slow, so it’s moist and tender, not tough or chewy, and always low salt, low cholesterol and low cal. The resulting jerky is tender and boldly flavored meat—beef, turkey and pork—marinated in sauces like basil citrus, lemon garlic, chili lime, pineapple orange, and smoky teriyaki. Eat it on the lift, trailside, or mid mountain. And, if you want to bust it out once you’re shuttling drinks to your buddies in the condo hot tub, Krave’s website offers wine and beer pairings for each flavor. $7 for a 3.25 ounce packet. Kravejerky.com.

Perky Jerky: When one skier’s energy drink spilled in another skiers peppered beef jerky, they both found that they liked the result: caffeine infused jerky made more tender by the soaking. When you need a little extra oomph for your next run, Perky Jerky provides nutrition and caffeine at the same time. Like Krave, it’s made with all natural ingredients, low fat, low carb, and low calorie without preservatives, nitrates or MSG. But it’s flavored with a seven-ingredient marinade that contains guarana, an Amazonian seed with about twice the caffeine of coffee beans. And, it's available in many mainstream grocery stores. $10 for a 5 oz bag, Perkyjerky.com

Jerky.com Buffalo Jerky: If you’re craving something a bit more exotic–maybe you’re skiing in Wyoming and hankering for a taste of the old West–try buffalo instead of beef. Jerky.com’s Buffalo Jerky is made from hand-sliced strips of Grade A, top-round grass-fed buffalo seasoned with all-natural ingredients and marinated in soy sauce, black pepper and pineapple juice. Like the other jerkies here, it's preservative and MSG-free. Buffalo meat has less fat, cholesterol and calories than beef, and more protein and vitamin B12 than beef, pork or chicken. $9 for a two-ounce packet, jerky.com.